The Dirt on Gloves

Our overuse of non-sterile plastic gloves in healthcare causes an enormous amount of harm. We often think wearing these gloves protects our patients…but that is dogma. Instead, they only protect us in healthcare if we come into contact with potentially infectious fluids. 

Gloves are often already contaminated when we take them out of those overstuffed, sloppy boxes. And using them gives us a false sense of security, making us think we don’t need to wash our hands. A surprising amount of harm occurs throughout the gloves’ lifecycles:

• Gloves are made from fossil fuels, the extraction and use of which is the biggest contributor to climate change.
• 60-65% of these gloves are made in Malaysia where there have been major concerns about human rights violations in the manufacturing of the gloves.
• Because of the packaging, we contaminate a box of gloves every time we take one out.  Klebsiella, Staph A and Pseudomonas have all been found in boxes of these gloves.
• Using gloves typically leads to less handwashing, and this increases our antimicrobial resistance (AMR) problem
• Gloves make up the bulk of our single use plastic in the hospital. It can take 200 years or more for these gloves to degrade.
• Many healthcare workers get dermatitis of their hands from using these gloves.
• Using plastic gloves unnecessarily (ie when no body fluids are involved) negatively impacts relationships with patients.

What can we do to reduce the negative impact?

• Think twice about using these gloves.  Their sole purpose is to protect us from potentially infectious fluids. They do not protect patients.  
• Instead of relying on these possibly contaminated gloves, wash your hands.
• Move gloves out of patient rooms – keeping them in patient rooms gives the perception that they are more useful and harmless than they actually are, and encourages people to use them
• Stop using these gloves as a distraction for children. This perpetuates that notion that these are harmless.